experiences.... I'm not even sure where to start! So I guess I'll
start at the very beginning:)
Monday_
The weather was seriously sooo gorgeous! We spent the day picnic-ing
in the park! Soaking up sun, writing in our journals, and writing
letters! Just a nice, chill day. Monday night we got the call that
Sister Stewart would be transferred.... And she's becoming a sister
training leader! Woot!
Tuesday:
The sunshine left us... And instead we were blessed with cloudy skies,
humidity, and rain! :-P Sister Stewart had to go to a leadership
meeting at the mission home... So I spent the day on exchanges In
Haymarket (not really sure where in relation to Leesburg it is... But
I'm almost positive it's at the opposite sides of our mission!) With Sister
Bost from Texas. She's so sweet and I had a good time with her.
We went to a members house in the Haymarket ward, and you will
seriously never believe what I did.....
Spent the afternoon catching chickens, feeding chickens, cleaning out
chicken coups, fertilizing hay bales, and being paranoid about getting
Lyme disease.... ;) haha! Man, the mission sure is giving me quite a
variety of experiences!
That evening, when Sister Stewart and I returned to Leesburg, we had
dinner with this recent convert named Andresa. She's from Brazil. Her
husband served his mission where she lived, and afterwards went back
and married her, and she got baptized! We've been working with her for
a while, but it's hard because she doesn't really speak English, and
we certainly don't speak Portuguese! But we do what we can.
Anyway.
A couple of weeks Ago, Andresa expressed to us through broken English
how she wanted to feed us, and on Tuesday night, her wish came true!
And my belly was full of delicious Brazilian food, and home made lemon
meringue pie! :):):):) #tastebudheaven
Wednesday:
We had district meetings with a different district, because our
district leader went home last week.... So we have been district
leader-less... Haha it was fun though! Just us two sisters, and like 8
elders. At the end, we re-enacted the music video "Come Unto Christ"
from the 2014 youth theme.... That's probably one of the highlights of
my week"! Seriously. I'll have to send the video separately or
something... It's good stuff;) ahhh man. Some of the elders I serve
around are just nuts. They're crazy! Haha
The rest of the day/evening was spent packing Sis Stewart's things and
saying goodbye....
The Simmons are finally back in town, so we were able to have a lesson
with Michi in their home again, and it went really well. The Spirit
was so strong, and we were bold with her! She finally opened up and
asked some of the deep questions that have been troubling her..... We
didn't resolve all of her conflicts.... But we tried our best.
Michi is a deep thinker, and she's very smart... She looks at
things more scientifically... So faith is a harder thing for her to
grasp. She's still struggling to accept and view God as an entity, as
our Heavenly Father..... BUT she does believe that Jesus Christ is the
son of God, and she believes in his life and ministry. So. We will
continue to help her hold strong to what she DOES know, and work with
what we've got! Every week she gets closer and closer. I feel that
eventually, what it will all come down to, is her taking a leap of
faith, and just committing herself to Christ! Which will be a
challenge for her. But she's capable of it.
Thursday:
TRANSFER DAY!
Also, my 9 MONTHS MARK! #happyhumpday
:)
In order to celebrate my 9 months, we went to lunch with the zone
leaders and another set of elders that the ZLs live with..... At the
one.... The only... CAFE RIO!!!!
I haven't had cafe rio since I left on my mission! I've never served
by one..... But there was one on the way to the Centreville Stake
Center... So of course we had to stop by! ;)
Transfers are always hard.... Change is never an easy thing.... And
I've been dreading this transfer because I was SO afraid I was going
to be put with a rough companion.......
:-/
But sometimes, you've just gotta trust that Heavenly Father's plan is
the best plan. He knows exactly what we need, and what's best for us. I
was trying to come to terms with this, on the way to transfers. I was
praying to develop charity for my new companion, and for strength and
faith to endure well whatever may be coming my way.....
Here is highlight#2 for my week.....
MY NEW COMPANION IS SISTER MYLIE JOHNSON!!!!!!!!!!!!! You know. My
bff/music major buddy from Snow College?! Woot woot!
I still can't even believe that we are companions! Haha we were both
SO excited!
We actually were sitting by each other in the transfer meeting, hoping
and praying we'd be put together, but neither one of us really
believing it would happen. (O ye of little faith)
But it did:)
#tendermercy #wonderofwonders #miracleofmiracles
Afterward we went up and talked to President and he told us how this
all came to be.
At first, President wanted to put us together just for fun. He felt
like it would be a good thing. He knew that we were friends, and that
we studied music together at Snow, and thought we would really enjoy
being together. But then he had to switch things around.... So we
weren't companions anymore. But then more changes were made. And more
switching.... Until finally, At the end, it worked out for us to be
put together!
He said that it felt good at first when he prayed, and in the end when
he prayed again, it really DID feel right.
I truly am so grateful to be under the stewardship of a wonderful
leader like President Riggs, who is truly so in tune with the spirit,
and close to the Lord.:)
President Riggs told us he expects to see great things from us, and
then told us to work on a musical number to sing at the whole mission
conference in June! (Which is his last conference on the mission:((( )
Friday-
Weekly planning! Honestly, weekly planning is my favorite thing to do!
It feels so good to sit down and plan things out. This last week,
Sister Johnson and I tried to really turn our plans over to the
Lord... Instead of planning what we thought was best or what we wanted
to do, we really prayed a lot and truly sought for inspiration.... And
it made all the difference in the world! We have a wonderful transfer
ahead of us and I truly feel, deep down inside me, that the Lord has
amazing things in store for the Leesburg area for the next little
while! We are really committed to working hard on preparing the way.
Our focus this transfer is on the members, on working with them and
especially with the youth! Getting them to be more aware of missionary
moments in their own lives, and training them out of PMG.
This transfer will be a transfer of planting seeds.... But there's joy
to be found in planting seeds and preparing the way for a great
harvest! After all, SOMEBODY has to do it!
Saturday-
Saturday mornings, we always go and visit Sue's best friend,
Lamb. Lamb is a double leg amputee, and she has severe diabetes. Just
a lot of health issues.... The missionaries have been meeting with her
for. . . . years. She's not a progressing investigator.... So we don't
really teach her. We just do lots of service for her:)
Anyway, every time we visit, she always requests that a song is
sung.... Of course Sister Johnson and I were more than happy to
sing!:)
We sang "How Great Thou Art"
By the end of the song, none of us had dry eyes! There is so much
power behind the hymns... We closed by bearing testimony of our
Savior. And the goodness, and glory of our Heavenly Father. I look
forward to the day when our Savior comes again, and I will be able to
look to him and "bow in humble adoration, and there proclaim, 'My God
how great Thou art!'"
The rest of the day was spent introducing Sister Johnson to ward
members and such. :)
Sunday--
The Layne family all came to church! This was Elle's first week!
And they LOVED it:)
Also, in gospel essentials, there's this lady, Joan, who attends,
because she likes the bible study. She's a good friend of Sister
Cummings.... And has met with missionaries once or twice... Anyway,
the Cummings have been trying to get her to take the discussions for a
while... And she has politely declined. Yet, she has been coming to
church for the past 3 weeks! Haha
The lesson this week in Sunday school was on the atonement, and
afterwards, Joan had a ton of questions!
So, being my sly self, and over-hearing her conversation with a
member..... I snuck in and went for the kill! In other words, I
preached the gospel:) and it was awesome! She wants us to teach her
more next Sunday! So we shall see where this goes...
Basically. This week was good.
But right now, my brain is fried.
We just spent all day in DC for the cherry blossom festival! It was
delightful! But sooooo exhausting. So I apologize for the scattered
thoughts.
All in all, I am loving life. Every day gets better and better. The
Leesburg ward is paradise! The members here are truly so supportive,
and there is so much work to be done, people to be found, souls to be
saved! I am grateful that I have been placed here at this time, and
that the Lord has entrusted me to hasten the work, and serve Him in
the very best way that I can. I am so grateful for my lovely, musical,
sweet companion. She's like an angel to me. We've just been able to
help each other grow, and she's helped me regain the motivation to go
and do. Plus, we just have FUN ALL THE TIME.
I've missed just having genuine fun all the time, while still working
hard. This transfer is going to be the best transfer of my mission.
I'm determined to give it my all, and truly lose myself in the work!
I know that Jesus is the Christ. I am grateful that he suffered and
died for me, and for you, and for everyone else. I am so very glad
that I made the decision at a young age to serve a mission, and I'm
grateful for everything you have all done to help me get to this point
in my life.
I have faith in my Savior, and I know there is great power that comes
from reading the Book of Mormon EVERYDAY EVERYDAY EVERYDAY. If you
haven't picked it up for a while, or even today... Please do that!
Now! And then read it again tomorrow. And the day after that.
That is the key to a happy life.
This week, in all your endeavors, I encourage you all to look to our
Savior and live. Stay by his side, and hold on to the simple truths
you know! :)
I love you so much, and I feel your prayers!
Love,
Sister Lewis
Pictures:
9 Months!
Cafe Rio!
Cherry blossoms!
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